


i'm falling for you (some things never change)

by freckledpianoman



Category: Stargirl (TV 2020)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Sickfic, some fluff and maybe what you would consider a small amount of angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-12
Updated: 2020-07-12
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:28:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25227565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/freckledpianoman/pseuds/freckledpianoman
Summary: 5 times rick catches beth + 1 time she saves him
Relationships: Beth Chapel/Rick Tyler
Comments: 7
Kudos: 52





	i'm falling for you (some things never change)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [CanaryWarrior](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CanaryWarrior/gifts).



> howdy i did this request for the beautiful canary-warrior on tumblr!! i had so much fun writing this and i'm so glad to get it posted!

1.

Beth's normally not a risk taker- she prides herself on having the best survival instincts of the group- if there's danger, she'll run. This situation is very different, however. Or maybe she's getting brave, either way, this is a risk she's willing to take.

Initially, none of them expected her to find much in the warehouse- they were mostly here on a hunch that it might have been an ISA base in the past. Beth just thinks they were trying to give her busy work while they did the dangerous crap (which is bullshit, by the way, she is  _ perfectly _ capable of defending herself).

Either way, the plan was for her to poke around here while the others went on whatever mission they were on and they'd come meet her back here. Whatever.  _ Plans change,  _ she reasons as she hurries across the second floor landing. 

She'd actually found something. Blueprints of this exact building lying around, waiting to be analyzed. She ignores the others talking over comms in her earpiece, she's pretty sure they won't be here for a while. So she can poke around for a little bit, right?

There's a room up here that she wouldn't know existed if it wasn't for this blueprint- an elevator shaft, or maybe a closet she thinks. Perfect place to hide nefarious stuff (?). 

She approaches the wall where the door hypothetically should be and presses her hand against the cool brick there. She knocks on it, pushes bricks, runs her hand along the seam of cement between the wall and the floor- nothing. But there definitely is  _ something _ , so she walks into the next room over, they should share a wall and maybe she'll find something there.

It's pitch black in there when she walks in, save for a lone window that barely lets any moonlight in, so she breaks out her lighter. Well, not technically  _ her  _ lighter, but Rick gave it to her 'just in case she needed to set something on fire'.  _ Always looking out for me _ , she thinks for a fleeting second before holding up the lighter and beginning to navigate towards the wall.

_ No door. _ It's not necessarily surprising, but it would have made this a lot easier. She goes through the same process she gave the wall before, knocks, prods, kicks it. She steps back for a second to stare at the wall. "Any ideas, Chuck?" she whispers.

The goggles scan the wall in a glow of green light that makes her realize she didn't actually need to use the lighter in the first place, the goggles probably have a setting that could've helped her out.  _ Oh well. _

"Nothing on this wall." Chuck replies smoothly back to her and she sighs. 

"Can you scan the whole room?" She asks, spinning in a full circle. 

"Surely." His voice parrots and she waits for a second before he announces, "Pressure plate in the back left corner. Though, I don't know if it has any relation to this room you're looking for. Is this a risk you're willing to take?" 

That makes her stop on her way over to press it. In the very unlikely situation that this blows her up or something, her friends would probably be very confused as to how she got herself blown up in the first place.

She hasn't been listening to her comms for the majority of the time she's been walking around here, but she hears them say something about wrapping up their mission. Quietly, she interjects, "I found a pressure plate- so uh, just wanted to let you guys know before I pressed it in case something goes terribly wrong."

She hears Yolanda laugh quietly and say, "Okay, don't get yourself blown up." She huffs quietly,  _ leave it to Yolanda to make a joke about this _ . She appreciates it, though, she was kinda already freaking herself out.

Courtney scoffs through her earpiece. "Kinda morbid, don't you think?" 

"Uh, yeah," Rick starts, "I don't really like the thought of Beth blowing up. Are you sure this is a good idea, Beth?"

Yolanda laughs, "Didn't realize you were such a mom friend, Rick."

"Only for Beth." Courtney shoots back and Beth can practically see Rick's scowl in her mind.

Her face turns hot as she replies, "Well, either way, I'm doing it, I just thought I'd let you guys know." 

"Okay, well be careful. We're heading over there now." Rick's voice is soft and concerned in a way it almost always is when he's talking to her. It's kinda sweet, and it kinda makes something in her chest flutter- which she elects to ignore.

"I will be. I'll see you soon." She replies as she makes her way over to the plate. She faintly hears Yolanda in her earpiece.

"Oh my god, that was adorable." 

Then Rick, "Shut up."

She laughs softly, feeling her face turn hot. She squats down and looks closely at the floor, letting the goggles outline the plate. It's pretty well hidden, actually, she definitely wouldn't have found it without Chuck's help.

_ Here goes nothing,  _ she thinks as she presses down on it. Nothing happens for a second, and in that second she wonders if that was her last conversation with her friends. Behind her, something groans and she whips around.

A crack at the top of the wall opens with a dim light behind it. The wall stops for a second then creaks to life again. sliding down to reveal the doorway she'd been looking for. 

"Beth, your head still on your body?" Yolanda asks over comms.

"Uh- yeah," she whispers, hearing Rick sigh in relief and Courtney and Yolanda laughing at him, "I found a secret room." She finishes, hearing Courtney clear her throat.

"You did? What's in it?" Courtney urges her as she turns the knob of the door that had just been revealed.

She sweeps the room with her eyes slowly. No apparent danger, so she steps in. There's a single lightbulb illuminating the room, though there's not much to illuminate. The room is barely bigger than a closet, with a single desk in it.

"A desk. I'm gonna dig through it and I'll be right out." She assures them, opening the top drawer on the right.

There's not much to be found, just a stack of blank paper and some pens.  _ This better have been worth it _ , she thinks moving on to the drawer under it. Still not much.

She looks under the desk and pushes it forward to look behind it. Only two drawers left. She slides the top one open and finds a manilla folder filled with stacks of papers sectioned off with paper clips.

"Holy shit, Beth, there's someone going into the warehouse." Yolanda whispers urgently into her earpiece. Beth stops,  _ did she set off an alarm or something? Why would anybody be out here?  _ She regains her composure and briefly looks at the papers in the manilla folder. If she hurries, Chuck can scan all of these.

"Okay, okay. I found something- just give me a second." She whispers, listening to hear footsteps or doors opening- nothing yet.

"Beth, what the hell? You need to get out of there now." Rick urges her worriedly.

"I'm working on it. Just," she stops to sort her thoughts out, "come to the window on the far left side of the East window and be ready to catch me."

"Wh- yeah, fine." Rick sighs, and Beth hurries to flip through all the pages as Chuck scans each one.  _ Only a couple more _ . She hears the knocking of footsteps on the staircase she'd been walking up just a bit ago. She speeds through the last couple as she hears footsteps approaching on the landing.

Her heart pounds in her ears, and she barely hears Rick as he whispers that he's below the window. She hurries out of the room and to the pressure plate, slamming her foot down on it and not stopping to hear if the door has started to shut or not.

She rushes to the window and flips the lock open, forcing it up and squatting in the window sill in three quick motions. She waves down to Rick and only hesitates for a second before wind is racing past her ears and she's landing safely in Rick's arms.

"Got ya." He whispers, setting her down and grabbing her wrist to drag her along with him into the forest where the rest of the JSA waits for them.

They all look at her as she takes a deep breath, "There were files in the desk, I had Chuck scan them."

Courtney grins and Yolanda sighs. Rick scoffs, "You could have gotten  _ hurt,  _ Beth, it wasn't worth the risk."

"Jesus Christ," Courtney groans. Beth casts a glare at Rick.

"Well, I'm fine. Really." She watches him look at her skeptically before his face relaxes.

"Fine. Yeah, I'm just glad you're okay." He sighs, looking away as Yolanda snickers silently.

"Well, now that that's all over, let's go back to the garage. I'm starving." Courtney sighs, walking in the direction of the car with Yolanda.

Rick starts following after them and Beth hurries to grab his wrist. "Hey. Look, I'm really sorry for scaring you."

Rick seems to consider pulling away, but he sighs and nods. "It's fine, really. I know I'd probably do the same thing."

"Yeah. I just wanted to make sure you knew I didn't mean to like, freak you out. And I'd be freaked out if I was in your position, too." She murmurs the last part quietly.

Rick huffs a soft laugh. "Mom friend."

"You're a mom friend, too."

"Only for you." He grabs her hand and laces their fingers together, leading her back to the car.

~~

2.

Rick trails behind Beth as she leads him towards the storage room in the garage, talking about something Pat had asked her to find. He hadn't exactly been listening before he offered to go look with her, he just needed to be as far away from Courtney and Yolanda's flirting as possible.

Though, he may have had more selfish reasons for going along with Beth- he refuses to acknowledge those motives for now, and instead cracks some joke about her being scared to go in the storage room by herself.

She scoffs and stops them in the hallway right outside the storage room. "You offered to come with me." She playfully nudges his shoulder and he laughs.

"Only because I knew you were scared." He shrugs and she giggles. His stomach flutters at that-  _ maybe I'm about to have a stroke _ , he thinks, ignoring the other more obvious reason he would be feeling the way he is.

"Yolanda was right, you totally are a mom friend." Beth teases and he narrows his eyes at her.

"Well, someone has to keep your pretty face intact."  _ God, that was a lame thing to say. _

Beth's eyes widen a little bit and she scoffs. "Sure. I've got my safety perfectly under control, but thank you for your concern."

"Well, I'll stick around just to make sure it stays that way. Also because I'd rather not have to listen to Courtney and Yolanda flirt while I wait for you to come back."

Beth laughs and turns towards the door of the storage room, leading him in. "Yeah, third wheeling them can be a bit frustrating."

"A bit? They're so obvious it's painful."

"Yeah, that's fair." She sighs, pulling a ladder out from the corner of the room to reach the top shelves. "Okay, you check the bottom shelves and I'll check the top."

"What exactly are we looking for again?" He asks hesitantly. Beth giggles and turns to look at him.

"You weren't even listening when you offered to come along, were you?" She puts her hands on her hips and stares him down until he sighs and tilts his head back.

"I saw the chance to get out of there and I ran with it." He jokes.

"That or you just really wanted to spend time with me."

_ Exactly that,  _ he realizes. "Or that."

She smiles sweetly at him. "We're looking for some binder he has with information about the ISA from back in the day. Binder is blue, I think."

"Got it." He nods and watches her as she climbs up the ladder and starts digging through the upper shelves. "Wait, why are you on the ladder? I thought you were scared of heights." He teases.

"I mean- I'm working through it. Every time I think I'll fall I kinda just expect you to be there to catch me, honestly." She must mean it as a joke, but Rick hears a bit of honesty in her statement. It makes his face feel warm to know that she trusts him to make sure she doesn't get hurt. Jesus, he's got it bad.

"Well, it's nice to know your expectations of me are that high. Guess I'll have to make sure I live up to them," He only halfway jokes, watching her glance back at him and smile softly, basking in the warmth of her gaze.

"I'll be around for you, too, then." She flashes him a quick wink and turns back to the shelf, so he squats down and begins to sift through the various stacks of junk Pat keeps in here.

They work in a comfortable silence, Beth occasionally tossing something down to the ground to get it out of her way. Their silence gives him time to be alone with his thoughts, which is pretty much always a bad thing for Rick. Now, it's especially bad.

Mostly because Rick realizes that he definitely has feelings for Beth. The stupid blushing, the weird flutters in his chest, actively seeking her out above anyone else. He thinks maybe he already knew but refused to even acknowledge the idea, even though it's maybe not  _ such  _ a bad idea.

Like, in theory, it's even a nice idea to have- being with Beth, getting to curl up on the couch together and watch a movie or some stupid reality show. But it can't happen- they're so different, in what he thinks must be the worst ways possible. Where Beth is warm and inviting, he has sharp edges and a less than agreeable attitude. She's out of his league.

So he'll keep it to himself until it goes away, and he'll stay friends with Beth and maybe even share those knowing looks best friends always give each other. He'll take Beth in any way he can have her, he's not exactly picky.

"Found it." She finally says after about ten minutes, turning it and waving it in front of his face so he can see.

"Damn, that means we have to go back to training." He huffs, taking the binder from her so she can get down.

"Yeah, let's just lie and say we couldn't find it until training ended." 

"Don't tempt me." He deadpans and she laughs.

"Next time Pat asks us to find something I'll make sure to bring snacks and we'll just hide out in here." She promises and he stops pouting, flashing her an involuntary smile.

"Next time it is," he agrees and turns for the door.

"Hey, Rick?"

"Yeah?" He asks, turning back to her.

"Catch me on my way down?" She raises her eyebrows questioningly.

"Always." He tosses the binder to the floor and she laughs, allowing herself to fall back into his arms. He relishes in being able to hold her for a half a second before he sets her on her feet.

She smiles and leans down to grab the binder. "Back to work."

"Is it really work if I'm with you?" He jokes (but not really).

~~




Henry stands shakily in front of her, staring Beth down.  _ He can't recognize you _ , she reminds herself half heartedly. That only means she's safe if they get out of this, which they very well may not. Pat had described it pretty simply: "Henry is just learning about his powers- he's volatile and you need to go assess the danger of the situation."

Pretty simple in theory, less so in reality, she realizes. Technically, Henry isn't supposed to know they're here yet- they were supposed to wait for the signal to reveal themselves, but somehow he'd just  _ known _ and he'd come out to confront them five minutes earlier than anticipated.

He's breathing heavily, running his fingers through his hair and muttering to himself- practically curling in on himself. It's almost pitiful to watch- she doesn't think Henry is necessarily  _ bad _ like his dad, he's just… confused? Probably a little bit angry, too.

Beth can work with this. She'll stall or something. Rick is about ten feet behind her, standing with his arms crossed like he's waiting for something to happen. "He's already seen us." He murmurs into comms- the undertone of panic in his voice is easier to hear in real time, whereas through the grainy audio of her earpiece it's marred by static.

Henry looks at her, setting her jaw. "Who the  _ hell _ are you people? Don't make me ask again." She sets her mind on repeating  _ Dr. Midnite  _ over and over again- she doubts he'd recognize her name, but if he ever caught wind of Beth Chapel in his regular life he'd just  _ know _ . Stupid mind reading.

"We're not here to hurt you." Her voice cuts carefully through the night, cold wind blowing past her ears.  _ I really just wanna go home and go to bed,  _ her thoughts flash and Henry quickly echoes them back to her.

"So go home and leave me the hell  _ alone _ ." He insists. Rick shifts somewhere behind her, and she can't help but be freaked out again. Mind reading is, like, a huge violation of privacy, and she doesn't even think Henry is doing it on purpose.

"Hurry the hell up." Rick practically whispers into comms, met with Pat's voice assuring him they're almost here. 

"What are we waiting for?" Henry prods, though Beth doesn't miss the sheer panic in his voice. That's all it is- fear, he's scared. They can still help him. 

"He's scared," she turns to Rick, then slowly back to Henry, holding out an arm, "we can help you, okay? Just… calm down." She reassures him, taking a single step closer. Henry glares at her.

"You expect me to be  _ calm? _ What the fuck is even happening?" He asks the last part under his breath, proving her point that this is all mostly the panic talking. 

"We'll explain it all to you, just  _ calm down. _ " She reiterates, taking a couple cautious steps forward. Henry shakes his head, stumbling a step away from her, dragging a hand through his hair and pressing his fingers to his temples.

For a brief second, her mind blares.  _ He's gonna kill me. _ He doesn't. Instead he drags himself out of his stupor to take a step closer to her- behind her, she hears Rick do the same. He's still got her back.

" _ Don't hurt her, please _ ." Henry mimics in a desperate voice, stopping Rick.  _ Nice to know he's at least thinking about me. _ Rick glowers behind her, she can almost feel him getting more angry behind her. Henry scoffs. "Oh my god- you two could not be more obvious."

"He's a lost cause, we should go." Rick gently places a hand on her shoulder. The words go unspoken, but they're there,  _ they'll deal with him later.  _ They go unspoken until Henry repeats them.

"Who's going to deal with me?" He demands, whirling to face Beth directly and squaring his shoulders like he's ready for a fight.  _ This was not the plan. _

"He's out of his fucking tree, let's go." Rick decides, going to pull her back and run. Henry scoffs from behind them.

"What? You suddenly can't deal with me? You said you could help me." He prods Beth. She shifts uncertainly.

"We  _ can  _ help you. Okay, just give me a second." She feels the panic creeping up in the back of her vision, blinding her. Pat and the others won't be here on time, they need to make a choice. "Okay. Let us help you." She walks closer to him.

"I'm  _ done _ talking!" He shouts, an invisible blast launching Beth backwards into Rick's chest before she can realize what's happening. Her ears ring as Rick catches her under her arms and steadies her, and the ringing persists for a solid twenty seconds before she can form a coherent thought.

By the time she opens her eyes, Henry is gone and she is leaned against Rick's chest, with him kneeling to the ground to hold her up while she blinks away the dark spots in her vision.

"What the hell?" She chokes, bringing a hand to her eyes, trying to find a way to subside the pressure building in her head.  _ God, that hurt _ .

"You're okay?" he rubs a hand up and down her arm gently and she leans forward carefully, letting him help her stand.

"Yeah. Yeah… did he run?" She asks, though Rick looks a lot less interested in what Henry's got going on as he watches Beth like he's scared she might collapse. She takes his hand briefly and squeezes it tightly before forcing herself to drop it.  _ Not now. _

"Yeah, he's long gone. But we'll find him- for now let's just accept the loss and go home." Rick says softly.

"Never heard a better idea in my life." She groans, already feeling the tension of a muscle she pulled while being thrown backwards through the air. She lets Rick wrap an arm around her shoulder as they walk towards their meeting spot with Pat.

Briefly, cloaked in the warmth of his side pressed into hers, she can relax. At least until she remembers what Henry had said earlier.  _ 'You two could not be more obvious'. _

_ More obvious about what?  _ Had they somehow revealed their identities through their thoughts? The only other explanation would be something else, like,  _ feelings wise,  _ that Beth refuses to believe is a possibility.

As much as she'd like to think otherwise, she's certain Rick will never see her as anything but a friend. She should be thankful they're even friends, she realizes.

"You sure you're okay?" Rick asks, slowing them down and rubbing the shoulder he has his arm set on.

"Definitely. Just thinking about what Henry said." She responds half-heartedly, still slightly dazed by the whole thing.

"Which part specifically?"

"When he said we were so obvious. I was just wondering what he meant by that, I guess." She shrugs it off, not wanting to worry him.

He stiffens at her side for just a moment before shrugging. "Yeah, I'm not sure what he meant either."

~~

4.

Rick watches as Beth slides a casserole into the oven and slams the door shut, enjoying the way she grins at him when they make eye contact. They don’t have training tonight, and they were both bored, so they’re having dinner and doing homework (or watching a movie, whichever happens first).

“See, not that hard.” She breathes. He realizes he maybe should have been paying more attention to what she was saying about the food, but like always he’d just zoned out and stared at her.

“Totally easy.” He agrees, raising his eyes sarcastically.

“You weren’t listening to any of that, were you?” Beth groans, punching his shoulder as he chuckles. “Asshole.”

“God, I’m rubbing off on you. When did you develop such a potty mouth, Beth?” He jokes, earning a glare from her. It’s nice to see her joking in a way that’s not like her normal sweet and cheery behavior- like he’s earned access to another layer of Beth Chapel’s friendship.

“Maybe I’ve always had a potty mouth and never used it around you.” She slides into the stool next to his and nudges his arm teasingly.

“Don’t kid yourself, I know I’m your favorite.” He smiles as sweetly as he can.

“That’s an insult to Yolanda.” Beth laughs.

Rick fakes hurt, pressing a hand to his chest. “Yolanda cannot catch you on a two story drop from a window.” Beth furrows her brows and he chuckles. “What’s on your mind?”

“Oh, nothing. I was just thinking of how to tell you that whenever you’re working at the garage I jump out of windows into Yolanda’s arms for fun.” She laughs, watching his face turn red.

“That’s our thing Beth! You’ve been fall-cheating on me.” He sets his head on the counter and tries to start a game of footsie with her, frowning as she scoots away and just stares at him.

“Are you gonna stop pouting now?” She pokes the side of his head.

“I don’t know if I’ll ever recover from the hurt this has caused me.” He fake wails, burying his face into his folded arms.

“Okay  _ maybe _ I was joking about falling into Yolanda’s arms to spite you.”

“I’m your favorite!” He declares, picking his head back up and letting it fall onto her shoulder. She wrinkles her nose and pushes him off.

“I did  _ not _ say that.” She groans, watching him grin at her knowingly.

“Who else is gonna catch you when you fall from windows or other high-up places?”

“I’ve decided to simply stop falling all the time, actually. I forgot to tell you.”

“Are you firing me?”

“It’s not you, it’s me.” She looks at him in fake pity and he laughs.

“Ouch. How else am I supposed to justify staying around you all the time?” He asks, watching her consider her next answer carefully.

“Maybe you just like spending time with me.” She smiles and Rick feels his face get hot.  _ Yes, literally more than anything,  _ he thinks, watching her wait for his answer.

“I  _ do  _ like spending time with you. Believe it or not our friendship does not revolve around me saving you all the time." He grins and Beth seems to relax, like she was waiting for him to admit he only hangs around her to protect her.

"Good to know. Could you do me a favor and run upstairs and grab the goggles? I need Chuck's help with my math homework." She sets her chin in her palm and he wonders if she thinks there's any possibility of him saying no to her  _ ever _ . (There's really not, he just wants her to be happy above all else, he realizes).

"If you're gonna use Chuck to cheat then at least be upfront about it." He jokes, standing to go upstairs.

Beth scoffs, "I am  _ not. _ Only you would do that." Rick casts a cool glare at her and shrugs.

"Maybe. Don't burn the house down while I'm gone. I don't wanna have to carry you out of here."

"Y'know what, I think you'd enjoy carrying me out of a burning house."

"Let's not find out." He chuckles and starts up the stairs, letting himself cool down. Every time he talks to Beth he feels  _ different _ .

Not a bad different- like, good. Like he's not living in a shitty house with his even shittier uncle. He feels like he has a support system with the JSA, Beth especially. If you'd asked him five months ago where he thought his life was going, he would not guess that he'd be making dinner with Beth Chapel at her house.

He wouldn't have it any other way, though. (That's technically a lie- he's greedy, he wants more. Where Yolanda and Courtney are like his best friends, Beth is his closest confidant in a different way. He sometimes wonders if he's interpreting things wrong, though he refuses to try and find out. They will stay friends and he will spend his time longing for something that he will never allow to happen.)

He's promised himself this- nothing is worth losing the sense of security Beth gives him. He doesn't wanna be in love with someone he can never have.

_ Shit _ . He's in love with her. Not surprising, he's known about his crush on her for a while, but being in love with her is a whole other ballpark. He doesn't know if he will ever get out of it.

Sometimes he entertains the idea that his feelings might not be unrequited. Only at night when he can't sleep and he doesn't wanna wake Beth up with his problems. It's like he has little imaginary conversations with her, which he knows is totally lame, but it helps.

Helps stave off thoughts like  _ I'm so in love with Beth Chapel I can barely breathe when I'm around her. _ Henry probably knew Rick was in love with Beth before Rick could even think about it.

He grabs the goggles and takes a deep breath before walking down the stairs, turning into the kitchen to see Beth standing on the counter digging through one of the top cabinets.

"Uh- what are you doing?" He asks without thinking, rushing forward when Beth jumps and starts to fall backwards.

He makes it just in time for her to land in his arms, looking surprised and a little bit pissed.

"Got ya." He laughs, rocking her back and forth jokingly and setting her down when she casts him a glare.

"You should learn not to sneak up on people like that. I could've died." She smiles and he feels a grin spread over his face involuntarily.  _ He's in love with her.  _ It's kind of a nice thing to think.

"You've put yourself in more dangerous situations. And do you really think I'd let you fall off the counter?" He winks and she snorts.

"Well you do have a 100% catch rate."

"Can't argue with statistics. Also why  _ exactly _ were you standing on the counter with no regard for your safety?"

"I thought you said I shouldn't worry about my safety in this situation." Beth wrinkles her nose.

" _ Wrong.  _ I'm allowed to worry about your safety, but you shouldn't worry about it because I won't let anything happen to you."

Rick says pointedly, watching her pause and consider his answer.

She takes a breath and crosses her arms. "I have a question and you have to promise to be honest." His heart sinks,  _ oh God I fucked something up _ .

"Promise."

"Actually- it's not really a question, it's more like a confession? Just promise not to hate me?" She's looking pretty much anywhere but him and his heart hurts.  _ What the hell did I say to upset her like this? _

"Beth, I could never hate you." He steps forward and places a hand on her arm, rubbing her shoulder with his thumb. "You know that, right? You're like, my best friend-"

She cuts him off- by  _ kissing  _ him. He doesn't move for a second, brain short-circuiting. Quickly, he comes back to life and grapples to place his hand on the side of her neck and kiss her back.

She sighs into his mouth and he ignores the part of his brain questioning  _ what the fuck is going on _ in favor of the part of his brain telling him that continuining to kiss her is probably his best option, seeing as this probably won't happen again.

She runs her fingers through his hair and he realizes they've backed up to the kitchen island, her pressed against it while he cradles her face.

The thing to finally break the moment is the oven going off, forcing them apart. Rick steps back and let's Beth past him, watching as she sets the casserole on the stove and turns back to him.

"Listen, if that was totally weird, I'm sorry. I, like, totally jumped you. Please forget that ever happened." She rambles, looking away from him.

"Do  _ you _ not want to remember that happened or do you think that's what  _ I _ want. Because if that's what you think, you're like 100% wrong. 'Cause I like you. A lot." He says half breathlessly.

Beth looks up at him and grins. "Wait, seriously?"

"Uh, yeah." He admits, rubbing the back of his neck. "Is that dumb?"

"Definitely not. The only thing dumb about this is how much time we wasted."

" _ So  _ that means the feeling is mutual?" He looks at her with a raised brow.

"The feeling is  _ definitely  _ mutual." She smiles softly, grabbing his hand.

~~

5.

When Beth walks into school on the last Friday before they have a long weekend off, Rick can tell just by looking at her that something is wrong. As she shuffles up to him, she immediately buries herself into his side, letting him loop his arm around her to hug her close.

Beth doesn't really do that normally- she's not opposed to the occasional bit of PDA, but she normally just starts a group conversation and saves the affection for when they're mostly alone.

Not that he's complaining, but Courtney and Yolanda send him looks that tell him they're confused, too.

He leans down so that he can kiss the crown of her head and murmurs softly, "You okay?" She just groans and nuzzles further into his side, wrapping her arms around his torso like she can't get close enough.

He looks back up at Courtney and Yolanda and shrugs, giving his best  _ I dunno  _ look. Courtney casts one more look at Beth before shrugging and beckoning Yolanda to go get breakfast with her.

He peels Beth off of him so he can turn to face her and she immediately goes back to hiding her face, this time in his chest. He lets his arms rest over her shoulders and rubs her back for a minute before trying again."Hey, seriously. Did something happen?"

She leans back from his chest and shakes her head. "No, I'm just not feeling well. If- if it's bothering you I'll stop-"

"Not what I was trying to imply." He hugs her back to his chest, rubbing a hand up and down her back and feeling her relax against him. He places his hand on her forehead gingerly, scoffing at how warm she is. "Jesus, Beth. You're sick, why don't you go home?"

"I've got a perfect attendance record to uphold. Don't worry, I'll be fine." She sniffles, barely bringing herself away from his chest to answer. He's always admired her perseverance, but now he's starting to realize it may be a blessing and a curse. 

"Well, we have training tonight- which you can and should skip, by the way." He decides it's not worth arguing- if Beth has her mind set on something, there's almost no chance of convincing her otherwise. The best thing he can do is comfort her before class starts.

"I'll feel bad if I leave you to third wheel Courtney and Yolanda." She whines, pulling back to grab his hand and create some distance between them. She leans against the lockers on the wall, red-nosed and misty-eyed, and Rick feels a pang in his chest. She looks  _ pitiful _ , like she could keep over at any second.

"I'll live. Just… make it through today, then go home and get some rest." He pulls her back in for a quick hug and she sighs, nodding. 

"Seeya at lunch."

-

Lunch, unsurprisingly, is not much better. She just sits with her head down, occasionally squeezing his hand. At least he knows she's alive. 

Courtney makes sure to tell Beth that if she even tries to show up to training, she will personally drive her home and tuck her into bed. Beth frowns and bobs her head once, going back to putting her head down. 

A couple times, Beth worries that she should not be sitting near anybody, for fear of spreading whatever she has. Rick laughs, "If I get sick, I guess you'll just have to take care of me," and links their hands again, celebrating the grateful smile Beth gives him as she puts her head into his shoulder.

Yolanda groans and fake gags. "You guys are disgustingly sweet. Mostly disgusting- have fun with your fever later, Rick." 

"Maybe I'll have hallucinations that lead me to the answer of one of life's greatest mysteries." He shrugs- Beth is out of commission, so someone has to pick up the slack of jokes from the two of them.

"Yuck," Courtney groans, "You can miss training, too, I don't want whatever Beth has infecting the entire town."

"Aw, man, you guys are gonna make me miss training to spend time with my sick girlfriend? Whatever will I do?" He fake complains, a stupid grin spreading over his face. Courtney and Yolanda don't find it funny, but Beth laughs into his shoulder, so he considers it a win.

"Are you sure you don't already have a fever?" Yolanda asks, cracking Beth up. It's almost annoying that Yolanda one-upped him, but seeing Beth happy is worth it.

-

After the final bell of the day has blared, Rick finds Beth standing next to his locker waiting. For a second, he thinks she's gonna try and convince him to go to training, but she just takes his hand gingerly and plants a quick kiss on his cheek.

"Walk me home?" She asks, and he chuckles, lacing their fingers together.

"If you insist, I guess I'll have to go with you. Feeling any better?" He places his other hand on her forehead- she seems even warmer than she was this morning.

She shakes her head. "Honestly, worse. I'm going to sleep as soon as I get home, I swear."

"Inviting me over so you can take a nap?" He jokes, but it obviously goes over her head as she frowns and starts to pull her hand out of his. 

"Oh, if you don't want to, I'll-" She starts, going quiet when he secures her hand back in his. He moves to hug her and she sighs, letting him sway them back and forth gently.

"I was joking, sorry. I'm more than happy to come with you while you nap, even if you don't want me in the bed with you."

"Oh, you're gonna have to be in the bed, I need something to keep me warm."

"I have it on good authority that I've got a talent for warming you up."

"Good- let's go, then." She decides, walking shoulder to shoulder with him out the doors of the school.

On the walk over there, they don't talk much- Beth mentions being kind of dazed and Rick decides he's fine in the comfortable silence they have between them. The air has started to turn cold, and it shows as Beth sniffles and shivers even worse than she was at school.

As they get closer to Beth's house she presses her body closer to his, slowing down a bit. He doesn't really think anything of it, patiently leading her up to the front step. She digs out her key and unlocks the door, pushing it open and faltering.

She takes a small stumbling step backwards into him and his senses blare that something is  _ wrong _ right before she collapses into his arms. He barely manages to catch her in time but he has enough sense to lower her to the ground gently and place her head in his lap.

Logically, this isn't really a huge deal- more than likely, Beth will be conscious again in two seconds and he'll be able to get her upstairs to bed, but for the two seconds before her eyes flutter back open, his heart feels like it's beating out of his chest.

He carefully brushes a hand over her cheek as her eyes open. "Hey, I've got you." He murmurs softly, watching her shut her eyes tightly and reopen them a second later. He brushes a thumb back and forth on her cheek as she steadies her breathing, staring up at the roof over her porch.

"I passed out?" She croaks, turning her head slightly to look at him. He nods and she groans, rubbing a hand over her face. "That's embarrassing." 

He chuckles softly, "My face was probably more embarrassing. You scared the shit out of me." He admits and she smiles.

"Yeah, I would've liked to see that." She nods, letting him help her sit up. He keeps a hand on her back as she stands and smiles at her as they make eye contact.

"I'll get you to bed and get you some water, c'mon." His voice is as soft as he can possibly make it (only Beth ever gets to hear this voice of his- it's practically designated for her specifically) and she gives him this soft look that makes him want to cuddle up with her and sleep for hours.

He helps her up the stairs and into bed, heading back to the kitchen to get her a glass of water. As he walks back up the stairs he hears her coughing and goes back to the kitchen to dig around for cold medicine.

As he hands her the meds, she groans. "At least if these don't help my symptoms, they should knock me the hell out." She rolls over and pats the bed next to her. "Are you going to be joining me or not?"

"Definitely." He flops onto the bed and lets her snuggle into him, kissing the spot under her ear that he knows is ticklish. She laughs tiredly and sighs into his ear.

"Sorry in advance if I get you sick." She whispers.

~~

+1

Beth watches as Icicle sweeps his eyes over the room, looking for their hiding places. She thinks she sees Courtney across the room behind some crates, looking ready to tackle the villain.

She doesn't know where Rick is, she hasn't had time to really  _ look _ , too busy focusing on quieting her breathing and not moving. A wrong move could get them killed.

She hears Pat reassuring them over comms that he'll be there soon, but she wonders if Icicle will find them before that happens. 

"You can't hide forever, come out and  _ fight _ . Have your hero moments." Icicle taunts, icing one of the light bulbs directly above her, causing it to burst. She barely jumps but it's enough to get his attention.  _ Fuck. _

"Ah, Dr. Midnite's persona has been readopted, I see. Unfortunate that Dr. Midnite always seems to be caught defenseless." He knocks the crates directly behind Beth's head sideways and she scrambles away, narrowly dodging a patch of ice he creates on the floor.

In that moment, Courtney leaps out with the cosmic staff, attempting to swing it down iver Icicle's head.  _ Somehow _ , icicle knows and freezes the floor under her before she can make her move, sending her sliding into some of the pipes that hang out along the walls.

Yolanda reveals herself, ripping a pipe from the wall and using it to shield herself from being frozen long enough to slash forward and cut Icicle's leg.

He shouts, kicking his leg up and connecting it with Yolanda's chest, sending her to the ground wheezing. He's turned away from Beth long enough that she manages to scamper away and grab the frozen pipe, ducking behind one of the columns that holds up the landing above them.

She sees Courtney sitting against the wall, eyes unfocused as she heaves to regain the breath that had been knocked out of her when she hit the pipes in the first place.

Yolandas out, too. She's laid on the ground in front of Icicle's feet, though he's not looking at her- he stares past her, at Rick.

Rick lifts a crate over his head and hurls it at Icicle, grunting as he dodged out of the way. Rick goes to pick up another crate and Icicle lifts his hand and Beth sees  _ red. _ She leaps out from behind the column, taking Icicle by surprise and swinging the pipe down onto his head and sending him sprawling.

Pat crashes in with S.T.R.I.P.E. at that exact moment, his voice coming out grainy as he asks if everyone is okay. Beth releases a breath as she sees Yolanda and Courtney stand, allowing herself to rush forward to hug Rick.

"You almost got yourself killed, dumbass."

"I knew you had my back," he breathes.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so much for reading! as always, comments are awesome, and you can check out more hournite content on my [tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/freckledpianoman)!


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